Elon Softball Hosts Radford, UNCG in Early-Week Slate

ELON, N.C. – Another busy week awaits the Elon University softball team as the Phoenix opens a five-game slate with a pair of early week games at Hunt Softball versus Radford on Tuesday, March 24, at 2 p.m. and against UNCG on Wednesday, March 25, at 5 p.m.

Live Coverage
Fans can follow the Phoenix via live stats by going to the Elon softball schedule page at elonphoenix.com. Twitter updates will also be provided the handle @elonscores or @ElonUSoftball. Wednesday’s contest against the Spartans will be streamed live for free on Phoenix All-Access with Matt Krause on the call.

Series History
Elon has faced both programs earlier in the season with the maroon and gold earning victories in each contest. Tuesday’s game will be the third meeting of the year between the Phoenix and the Highlanders after the maroon and gold won a pair of games over Radford in its season-opening weekend on Feb. 7-8. Overall, Radford holds an 18-12 all-time advantage in the series, but Elon has won five straight.

The Phoenix and the Spartans will complete a home-and-home series on Wednesday after Elon earned a 6-2 win at UNCG on March 15. The two former conference foes and I-40 rivals are meeting for the 71st time overall in a series dating back to 1990 for Elon in the fastpitch era with the Spartans holding a 36-33-1 lead all-time.

Last Time Out
Elon competed in its first-ever Colonial Athletic Association series this past weekend, March 21-22, at College of Charleston. The Phoenix fell overall in the series, but battled the Cougars, who were tabbed to finish second in the CAA Preseason poll, tough throughout the weekend. Elon suffered a tough 6-5 loss in the opening games of the series, but rebounded with a 4-3 victory in the second game. That forced the series to a rubber match on Sunday, March 22, where the Cougars came out with a 5-1 win.

Million Named CAA Player of the Week
Sophomore Carey Million was tabbed as the CAA Player of the Week on Monday, March 23. The award is the first career weekly honor for the Roebling, N.J., native as she batted .611 (11-for-18) in the Phoenix’s six games last week. She also had six RBI, three doubles and a home run during that stretch along with a slugging percentage of .944 while helping Elon to a 4-2 record. Million’s week also helped her raise her average from .200 on March 15 to .301, which stands third on the team.

Scouting the Phoenix
Despite the setback at CofC, Elon is still playing well as of late and had won five straight and 14 of its last 16 prior to its series against the Cougars. The Phoenix has also been nearly unblemished at home this season with a 12-1 mark at the confines of Hunt Softball Park.

Hannah Olson still leads the team with a .392 average and hit .444 last week with a 1.000 slugging percentage. She also hit her first two career home runs in the Phoenix’s doubleheader sweep against Rider. Kara Shutt also belted her first career home run last week against East Carolina and is second on the team with a .307 average as Elon is hitting .262 on the year.

The Elon pitching staff continues to show its depth with four players seeing time regularly and all six pitchers having an ERA of 3.08 or lower. Senior Caitlin O’Shea still needs only one more save to break Jen Lamb’s (2003-04) all-time school record of six in a career. The Kennesaw, Ga., native is second overall on the team in ERA at 2.23 and was 20th in the nation in saves from the latest NCAA statistical rankings on Friday, March 20.

Scouting Radford (6-15)
Radford sits at 6-15 on the year after being swept in its Big South series at Presbyterian on Saturday, March 21 and has lost three straight overall. The Highlanders most recent win came against Campbell on March 15.

RU has four players hitting better than .300 in its lineup and is batting .277 overall. Whitney Davis has been the Highlanders’ most prominent run producer with four homers and 18 RBI while hitting .333.

In the circle, RU is allowing opponents to hit .302 against them while having a total ERA of 5.68. Four players have pitched at least 27 innings on the year for the Highlanders with Abby Morrow being the most effective with an ERA of 2.36 in her 32.2 innings. Morrow is also tied for the team-lead in wins with two.

Scouting UNCG (12-12)
The Spartans are on a five-game losing streak after falling at Chattanooga in its Southern Conference series opener last weekend, March 21-22. UNCG’s most recent victory came against Bryant on March 11 at the UC Riverside Tournament in San Diego, Calif.

Picked to finish third in the SoCon Preseason poll, UNCG still has a potent lineup with the team hitting .331 overall and two players batting north of .400. In fact, eight players among the Spartans’ regulars are hitting better than .300 with Allison Geiner leading the way with a .444 average. SoCon Preseason Player of the Year Lindsay Thomas is tied for the team-lead in homers with three and has and team-high 25 RBI with a .354 average.

The Spartans pitching staff has allowed a team ERA of 5.15 overall with opponents batting .314 on the season. Freshman Alicia Bazonski has seen the most time in the circle with 66.1 innings and has a record of 5-4 with an ERA of 3.59.

On Deck
Elon travels to Philadelphia this weekend, March 27-28, for its second CAA series at Drexel. The Phoenix and the Dragons are slated to begin the series with a doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m.